What A Viking's Smile Revealed

New Scientist ^ | 1-7-2006

[blam]

What a Viking's smile revealed

07 January 2006

VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into their teeth to indicate class or military rank.

Caroline Arcini of Sweden's National Heritage Board analysed 557 skeletons from four major Viking-age Swedish cemeteries and discovered that around 10 per cent of men, but none of the women, bore horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth.

The marks, which were cut deep into the enamel, are often found in pairs or triplets and appear precisely made. They might have marked certain men as members of a group of tradesmen or warriors, or signified their ability to withstand pain, says Arcini, who published her findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20164). Most of the men bearing the grooves were young, but in the absence of any distinctive injuries or artefacts buried with the skeletons, the exact reason for the marks remains a mystery.

This is the first known case of tooth filing in Europe, but it was common practice in the Americas between AD 800 and 1050. Since the skeletons date from around the same time, this raises the possibility that the Vikings picked up the practice during their travels. Arcini hopes future finds will reveal where the practice arose and how it spread.

[kalee]

"The Motel of the Mysteries"

Hilarious book, but so true! I had an archeologist tell me once that they operate in the realm of guess and speculation, not always provable fact.

[R. Scott]

Or, it could be analogous the Hell's Angel's "Red Wings" patches on their jackets.

Make that “Hells Angels” – not “Hell's Angel's” – and “colors”, not “jackets”. I can’t really see how the act denoted by the red wings would result in grooved teeth.

[Cvengr]

I thought that Vikings were scarred on their front teeth as a natural job injury from their no-hands, acrobatic, waterskiing maneuvers.

[Rudder]

How would a MC Club respond if you referred to their "colors" as a jacket in their presence?

Good point. LOL!

But my Norton can outrun their Hogs.(Once I get it started)

[RichInOC]

I was going to guess proto-English dentistry.

[Cvengr]

Vikings take their colors seriously, ... and they don't ride no stinkin' hogs, neither!;^)

[ASA Vet]

I don't have grooved teeth.

[Right Wing Assault]

Marks left by loose braces due to poor quality early orthodontics.

[R. Scott]

Me neither - but then again, my teeth rest in a cup.

[blam]

"I come from a long line of Norwegian red-heads - where do you think the Irish got their red hair from?"

The incidence of red-hair in Libya is the same as that in Ireland.

[packrat35]

Red wings most definitely does NOT cause grooved teeth. LOL

[blam]

"where do you think the Irish got their red hair from?"

" From Neandertals, same as all red heads."

Red-Heads 'Are Neanderthal'

[Rudder]

Holy Mackerel!!Is their a porpoise for that?

[Rudder]

Red wings most definitely does NOT cause grooved teeth. LOL

I dunno...maybe Vagina dentata was prevalent then.

[ASA Vet]

Exactly

[Francis McClobber]

Yes, but what does a Viking Kitty's smile reveal?

[wildbill]

Might have been a mark of membership in the Berserkers.

[dersepp]

Looks like toothbrush abrasion from ultra-stiff bristles of the time. Alas,that makes the advice of soft toothbrushes centuries, not decades old.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Skraling may be an anglicized form. I did an Internet search using "eric the red Skralings" and the first 5 or so results were Skraling.

I checked an online icelandic dictionary at:
http://www.zece.com/icelandic/?a=sh&le=s
Gives the definition as:
skrælingi n. m. barbarian, eskimo (-ja, -jar)

Note that in Icelandic and old english AE is a single letter, Ash. We would probly translate at the letter A.

Since the the modern Icelandic definition comes 10 centuries later, I checked several on-line English Norse dictionary. the only entry I found gave "Armr" (Cf German arme, poor, wretched).

I suspect that the definition "wretch" was one I learned from reading the introduction to a translated saga. (probably published by Penguin.) I would keep keep searching for the on-line Norse but I already see that I have spent too much time on this little search.

[elcid1970]

Thank you for your research. I've been wondering since the fourth grade (yes, that's when I first heard of Leif Ericson and Vinland), just why did the Vikings quit Vinland? They could handle the skraelings. Was it a matter of logistics?